Of course, the only thing that will erase the memory of Langston Galloway’s 3-pointer, the shove that preceded it and the resulting 70-67 loss to Saint Joseph’s is an invitation to the big dance. Sometime after 6 p.m. today, the Flyers will know if they can put that no-call behind them or if it will haunt them for years to come.
The only thing Dayton knows for sure is it’s season is not over. If the NCAA doesn’t want the Flyers, the NIT will. Obviously, they want the former over the latter.
“That would be the perfect period at the end of a senior season,” senior Matt Kavanaugh said. “We think we’ve done enough to earn a spot in the tournament. We definitely know we have more basketball to play, so whichever tournament we’re in, we’re going to be excited and ready to keep battling.”
There was no sign the loss put the Flyers (23-10) on the wrong wide of the bubble. After Friday’s games, CBS expert Jerry Palm predicted the Flyers would get a No. 11 seed and play No. 6 seed Texas in Spokane, Wash. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi gave the Flyers a No. 12 seed and matched them with Providence in the First Four.
Of the 102 predicted brackets compiled at BracketMatrix.com, 99 showed Dayton in the field.
Patrick Stevens, of USA Today, wrote on Twitter: “Remain puzzled at why doubts about Dayton remain. 10-7 vs (top 100), 10-5 road/neutral. 4-6 vs. (top 50) isn’t awful. There aren’t 36 better at-larges.”
After Friday’s loss, Dayton coach Archie Miller was asked how he would handle the next 48 hours.
“There’s nothing to do,” he said. “Our guys have come off one of the more memorable runs that a team has had. For Saint Joe’s, I don’t know if they are going to lose another game, and we can’t beat them right now. They are the last loss we have had since January.
“We’ve had a great run. They have exhausted an extreme amount of energy. There’s a lot of emotions with the ups and downs that go into the season, and the next step is to take a deep breath and be proud of what we have done together.”
A-10 update: Saint Joseph's did the Flyers a favor in the first A-10 semifinal Saturday, beating No. 9 seed Saint Bonaventure 67-48 to advance to the championship game today against Virginia Commonwealth or George Washington. The Bonnies would have stolen a tournament berth from one of the bubble teams if they had somehow won the A-10 championship.
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